Tears Of Pain
by Chavi West-Wind
Summary: This is an A/U where Gohan died....So far it mostly focuses on Goten cause I think he's underappreciated. Maybe some OOCness,All sagas happened except Buu. ~*FINALLY!!! AN UPDATE!!!*~
1. Goten Runs Off

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. If I did, Goku would be dead, Gohan wouldn't be a dork, Mirai would be cooler (if that's possible) and Vegeta would do more instead of just sitting there constantly trying to become stronger than Goku. Plus I'd be on the show as Trunks' or Mirai Trunks' girlfriend/wife. So there. But I don't own DBZ.  
  
(A/N)Chavi: This is my first fic. So there. In other words, I want feedback. If you read this and don't review I'm going to hit you with my brother's baseball bat. Basically in this fic, Goku's dead, and Gohan is dying. I dunno if all of the sagas happened cause I didn't really think about it. This is something I scribbled down in my notebook. If I get at least 5 reviews, I might write more to it. But if not, or if people tell me there isn't much else to write, then I'll either delete it or I'll just not write another chapter. So there. And there might be some OOC-ness, but don't kill me. I warned you. I tried. So there.  
  
  
  
Goten laid on his back on the grass. The teen stared at the clear blue sky, pain in his eyes. 'How ironic,' he thought. 'Such a beautiful day.' It was supposed to have been a harmless party, for fun. Who could've guessed it would end so tragically?  
Behind him came the sound of crunching grass. Goten shut his eyes to hold back the tears threatening to overtake him. "Hello, Trunks," he said flatly. He heard a sigh, then Trunks sat on the grass next to him.  
  
"He's not going to make it," Trunks commented, fighting to keep the emotion from his voice.  
  
Goten nodded; he didn't need his best friend to tell him that, he could sense it. Gohan's ki was slowly fading away. Feeling around for the others, he found that it was probably the same as when he'd left. Videl had been, and probably still was, holding a vigil at Gohan's side. Chichi and Bulma were off to the side crying, Vegeta was standing nearby to show respect for Gohan, and Piccolo had been standing next to Videl. Krillin and 18 were sitting quietly with Marron on the other side of the bed. Bra and Pan were sitting quietly, very upset, near Chichi and Bulma. Roshi was sitting next to the door next to Dende. The main difference was that Trunks and Goten were no longer standing next to Piccolo.  
  
Goten sat up, his spiky black hair ruffled from his dash away from the house. Even now, he couldn't escape the fact that his older brother was dying.  
  
The lavender haired teen watched his friend with concern. "You know you should go say goodbye."  
  
Goten turned suddenly. "What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"Well, he's dying. And there won't be any wishing him back. After all, he's dying of a natural cause."  
  
Goten's eyes flashed. "Well, I'll just kill him, then we can wish him back." His voice rose shrilly. "We'll just have to get around the rules! We'll find a way, we have be--"  
  
Trunks interupted him, shaking his head. "I don't think that would work, Goten."  
  
"Of course it would."  
  
"Goten! Forget it, this is where it ends! Everyone would probably just get mad if you did that."  
  
Goten persisted, "Maybe someone from the future will come with a cure."  
  
Trunks was getting angry now. He grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him. "Goten, listen to me! This is the end! NO one is coming from the future to cure him, we won't get that lucky again! Do you want him to die before you can say goodbye?!"  
  
Goten's eyes flashed angrily, and he broke out of his friend's hold. For a moment, both teens glared at each other, and Trunks realized just how hard his friend was taking this. Gingerly, he reached out and touched Goten's shoulder.  
  
"Goten, I know this hurts. It hurts my too, he was my friend too. He was almost like a big brother to me. Please, just go and say goodbye now. Otherwise, you'll regret it later."  
  
Goten yanked away, tears brimming in his dark eyes, and got a running start then took to the sky.  
  
Trunks watched him sadly. It hurt to see his best friend like this. Goten was usually so happy... when had he become so angry? And Gohan.... Trunks felt for his ki and was relieved to find it still there. He'd said his goodbyes, made a few confessions and a few apologies. Of course Gohan had forgiven him.  
  
Hopefully he'd be around to do the same for Goten....  
  
  
  
  
Chavi: So whatcha think? If I get at least five reviews, then I might write a new chappie. Of course unless everyone tells me this feels done, complete... or if I get writer's block. Of course, either way, I'll probably write more anyhow, it'd just take longer. K? So.... press the big pretty bluish button down there... you know, the one that says "Click Here to Submit Reviews." I take flames, praise, either one works, I just really wanna know what you think about my story. K?  
Nika: And one of the stories starring ME will be up soon! ^_^  
Chavi: *hits Nika with a baseball bat* They are not starring just you, get it thru your thick head!!!! Anyways, push the button and tell me what you thought!!! Thankies ^_^  
Nika: @_@ Owie..... 


	2. Gohan's Death

Chavi: Hiya everyone! ^_^ Me again, with another chappie of this. I wrote it kinda late at night and I was sort of depressed (if you really are curious as to why, then check out Joe's Poem, I wrote this right after)  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned DBZ, then I would be in it. But unfortunately I don't. I just own all of the videos from Great Saiyaman-Gohan's Secret onward. I also have 4 mangas, Legecy of Goku, and some random DBZ Trading cards, not to mention the DBZ Trading Card game for the GBA. Now, read and enjoy! (hopefully...)  
  
  
  
Goten headed towards his home...and his brother. It was so strange. What had started out as a birthday party had turned tragic when Gohan had suddenly fainted. Worried, the Sons and the Briefs had taken him to the hospital.  
The doctors diagnosed it as a mutated version of the same sickness that would have killed Goku so long ago. It would figure. In one timeline, Goku dies, and Trunks goes back in time to avoid that. Would this be just like that Trunks' reality? Would someone in this timeline have to go back and cure Gohan?  
Goten shut his eyes and forced himself to stop crying. What would Gohan say to him? What did someone say to a dying man? Especially one who was losing his life so early? His friends, Mom, niece...He had to be strong, he was the man of the family now. But he would most definitely give that up if that meant Gohan had to die...  
There it was. He landed in front of the house and pushed the door open. Walking softly, he made his way to the room where Gohan was. Hesitantly, he turned the doorknob and peered in. Krillin, Marron, Pan, Bra, Chichi, and Bulma all glanced up; the others ignored him. "Goten," whispered Chichi.  
Ignoring her, Goten walked over to Gohan. "Could you...guys leave for a minute?" Wordlessly, everyone left. Videl glanced over her shoulder once at her husband and brother-in-law, then shut the door quietly.  
"Goten..." Gohan smiled faintly. "Thought you were mad at me..."  
"What for?"  
"...For dying."  
Goten shook his head. "No, I was just upset."  
"What's up?"  
Goten was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I came to apologize."  
Gohan blinked in confusion. "For...?"  
"A lot of things. Like those fake love letters from you to Videl and vice versa. The ones me and Trunks left for Mom to find."  
Gohan's jaw dropped. "That was YOU?! Do you realize how long it took to get her to leave us along?!"  
Goten hung his head, looking sheepish, although he was secretly hiding a grin. "Yeah, it was funny. And when we took pictures of you making out with Videl..."  
"I remember that," Gohan commented with a grin. "I chased you for hours."  
Goten sighed, knowing that those happy times would be no more. "I just wanted to apologize for everything."  
"Okay, I forgive you."  
"You do?" Goten asked, surprised.  
"Yep," Gohan replied. "For everything. As long as you promise me something."  
"Anything."  
Gohan shut his eyes, feeling horribly tired. "Promise me you'll take care of them. Mom, Videl, Panny...." Goten hesitated, then Gohan spasmed and screamed in pain.  
Outside the room, Videl jumped up and tried to run in to Gohan's side, but Piccolo grabbed her by the shoulder. Videl struggled, her eyes filled with angry tears. "Let go, Piccolo. Let me go!"  
Piccolo shook his head. "Let them talk. GOten is losing his brother; he deserves a chance to say goodbye."  
"I'm losing a husband!" Videl retorted. "And Panny is losing her father! And there isn't any way to get him back!!!"  
Piccolo still refused to let her go. "I'm sorry, but this is how it should be."  
Trunks, who had arrived soon after Goten, stepped between Videl and the door. "I'm sorry, Videl, but Goten needs this."  
Videl finally relented, and sat down again, putting her face in her hands.  
Inside the room, Goten watched in horror as his older brother twitched and screamed. Slowly, after what seemed an eternity, Gohan's screams stopped. "Promise me, Goten!" he cried painfully, refusing to die until he had this small bit of comfort. "Promise me you'll watch over them and keep them safe! Please!"  
"Okay, I promise," Goten said solemnly, placing a hand on Gohan's arm to calm him. "I'll watch over them."  
Gohan smiled, a tiny, pained smile. "Call them all back in here," he whispered softly, and Goten could feel his ki slowly slipping away. Hastily, Goten yelled, "Everyone, get in here, quick!"  
Everyone with the ability to sense ki noticed what Gohen had and they ran into the room. Videl immediately rushed to Gohan's side, followed closely by Chichi, Bulma, Pan, and Trunks. Gohan smiled at them all and waved slowly.  
"See you...in the afterlife," he whispered. Then, he moaned and his ki faded away until it was completely gone. All was silent until one sound broke it and expressed everyone's feelings at the moment.  
Pan sobbed, once and only once.  
  
  
So, whatcha think? Like? Dislike? Love? Hate? Think I suck? Think I rock? I tried harder on this one than I did on the other one, and I changed this one in about 100 places. Oh, and many thanks to hippiechick, Elvin Flame, and Saiyangirl*dbz*dbgt for reviewing the first chappie of this. And I am mad at slick-pen99 for not reviewing it anyway, even tho she'd already read it(j/k, I'm not really mad at her.) Also thankies to anyone else who reviews later on. So do you think I should continue? Or do you think I should just leave it? Let me know!! 


	3. The Conversation

(A/N) Hiya, peeps! I was bored so I decided to write more to this. Plus I just felt like writing something. And also, thankies to Jade, Miriam b., Saiyangirl*dbz*dbgt, Omega, and thankies again to hippiechick and Elvin Flame. And Jade; thanks a bunch for your advice ^_^ I wouldn't give up writing in any case, whether they reviewed or not. I think I said that in another story...I just like to have some sort of motivation. And people who want to read it is a pretty good motivation. And I'm very, very glad that you guys seemed to like it, that makes me happy!(I at least hope that Jade enjoyed it despite her first doubts... oh well, even if she didn't, I don't know her personally anyway, so...*shrugs*) I decided to write this after reading Omega's second review where she said that Goten has a hard burden now... Then the gears in my head started whirring and then this was created. Hope those of you who reviewed before decide to read this chappie too!!! Oh well I'll shut up now so you can read this chapter of Tears of Pain. I hope you enjoy! Oh and also, this is an AU (in case you didn't guess...) The Babidi/Buu sagas never happened. Goku did come back to life, and participated in the tournament, but Spopovitch and that other guy never showed up, Babidi never landed his ship on Earth, da da da da da.... etc... whatever. And I changed all the ages ^.^ just letting you know. Pan is only three years younger than Goten. Goten is eighteen, Trunks is nineteen, Chichi is about 40 some, Bulma is about 50 some, and Videl is about 28 I guess. Anyways, enjoy!  
  
  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned DBZ...I'd have a lot more money than I do now. But don't sue me, all you'd get are some notebooks full of random junk, a lot of books, some statues of random animals or things, but no matter what, I wouldn't give up my computer!!! MY COMPUTER!!!!  
  
  
It had been exactly five years since Gohan had died. Goten sat outside, staring at the starry sky. Why did he have to die anyway? Why did this all have to happen? Why did his life have to get so screwed up anyway?  
Goten was now eighteen years old, and a senior in high school. He'd been called out of school several times over the last few years by his mother, who had been having panic attacks and was being scared and lonely. Ever since Gohan's death, she just wasn't the same anymore. She jumped at small things, which never would have bothered her before, and she cried almost all the time, when she wasn't yelling at whoever had made her angry, or when she wasn't screaming or panicking about something really stupid.  
Videl wasn't quite as bad, but was still pretty bad. She spaced out a lot, and cried whenever she thought she was alone. Sometimes, she'd get so depressed, she'd lock herself in her room for days at a time. Whenever that happened, Goten would take Pan to his house and watch her until Videl recovered her senses. But the majority of the time, she seemed almost normal, although she was a lot quicker to anger since then.  
Goten felt sorry for Pan. She hardly remembered her dad, she was so naive when he died, and only 10 years old. It was sad, she had so few real memories of her dad. Whenever she was hanging out with her uncle, she always asked him what her father was like. Goten always told her stories about him, how he had been the Great Saiyaman, how he'd defeated Cell, and fought Buu, how he'd met Videl at his school and taught her to fly, and how he'd eventually married her. Pan always listened intently, not wanting to miss a word of it. And Goten was always more than happy to tell her all about his older brother, her father.  
Some people, total bakas that they were, thought that Goten and Pan were much closer than was appropriate. Gohan being Videl's husband,their family had recieved a lot of publicity. And they all thought their "relationship" was unappropriate. Goten thought this was just plain dumb. Couldn't anyone just talk to their niece without them being sickos? It was so unprobable, it wasn't even funny.  
"Goten?"  
Goten jumped at the sound of her voice. "Panny! I didn't even hear you come up."  
Pan sat down beside him. "What were you thinking about that was so fascinating?"  
Goten sat there for a moment, not answering. Just as Pan began to wonder if he was going to answer, he said, "I was thinking about Gohan."  
"Oh..." Pan looked away. She could still remember that day. Her father had looked so happy, so peaceful...how could someone be so calm when they were dying? She didn't understand.  
Goten glanced at her. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.  
Pan replied, "Not much. Just...how can I remember it so well? It was so long ago."  
Goten shrugged. "I'm not as smart as he was, but I can guess it's because it was such a horrible time. Besides, it wasn't all that long ago."  
Pan sighed and sprawled out on her back. "Tell me about Grandpa."  
Goten was surprised. This was a first; Pan had never asked about her grandfather before. "Well, what about him?"  
Pan thought about this, then said, "Tell me about the World Tournament he was in."  
Goten smiled, remembering it. "Heh, that. That was funny. He was allowed to come back for just one day..."  
(A/N This is a flashback... So don't get confused, k?)  
Goku faced Vegeta, both of them flying about 10 feet above the arena. Vegeta smirked at his longtime rival, and Goku's expression almost mirrored his. "You know I'm going to defeat you right?" Vegeta commented.  
Goku grinned. "Well I guess that luck could be on your side."  
Vegeta smirked. "I think that luck has nothing to do with it. It's skill, and strength, and I have enough to beat you now! I haven't been slacking off the past seven years!"  
"Believe what you want to believe, Vegeta. But I do think that we should get started now, I don't think that anyone wants to hear your boasting any more."  
"Heh. So eager for defeat. Alright then, prepare to be defeated!" With that, Vegeta rushed at Goku, who readied himself for Vegeta's attack.  
The audience gasped as they saw them meet with a flurry of punches and kicks. They weren't worried anymore about hiding their Super Saiyan powers, since Goten and Trunks had already blown that. Vegeta powered up to Super Saiyan and attacked Goku again.  
Suddenly, a bright flash filled the arena, and the audience all covered their eyes, except for the Z warriors, who could see that Goku had used the Solar Flare to blind Vegeta. Vegeta blinked, now seeing spots, and Goku moved in to attack. Vegeta smirked and blasted where Goku's ki was. Goku, thinking that he had Vegeta where he wanted him, was taken by surprise and was flung backwards. When he realized what was happening, he tried to stop himself, but didn't make it in time before he hit the stands facefirst.  
The crowd was screaming and running away from where Goku had hit. Goku was still, with his face in an indentation that he had created in the stands. Medics rushed over to try to help him.  
Suddenly, Goku popped up, his face red from hitting the stands so hard. The medics shrieked in fear and ran off, tripping over eachother in a desperate attempt to get away from him. Normally, an attack like that would've killed a normal human. Fortunately for Goku, he wasn't normal and he wasn't a human.  
"Hey Vegeta, that was a good shot!" Goku cried.  
"The winner of this match is Vegeta!" the announcer cried, making Goku sweatdrop.  
Goku yelled, "Hey! We weren't finished!"  
"Hmph," Vegeta grunted with a smirk. "Face it, Kakarott. You just don't stand a chance against me."  
Goku glared at him. "That's not true, and you know it. If you hadn't pulled that cheap shot, then I'd have won..."  
The announcer sweatdropped. "Sorry Goku, but the rules are the rules. You were....forced out of the ring and therefore you lose the match."  
"Even if that hadn't happened, you still would've lost," Vegeta smirked. "I am the Saiyan Prince after all, and you're a lowly 3rd-class baka."  
Goku glared at him. "Let's settle this then, Vegeta. Let's fight again, this time no rules except that we can't kill the other fighter, okay?"  
Vegeta nodded, getting in a fighting stance. "Fine then, Kakarott. I'll beat you up again."  
The announcer sweatdropped again and cried, "Whoa whoa whoa fellas! You can't fight here, we have other matches to go through!!!"  
Goku glanced at him. Vegeta sighed. "Fine then, we'll go somewhere else." Then the two Saiyans flew off to fight again somewhere else.  
(A/N End flashback ^_^ didja like it?)  
Pan grinned. "Who won that time?"  
Goten replied, "Who knows? They wouldn't say. Maybe they ended it in a tie. Or maybe they just agreed to not tell the results. I have no clue. It just happened."  
"Okay then..." Pan said thoughtfully. "Who was stronger?"  
Goten shrugged. "They both can suppress their ki so...either one might have been stronger."  
Suddenly, off in the far distance, a high ki force blinked on and off, as if someone had been suppressing it and suddenly lost control for a split second. But for Pan and Goten, that split second was all they needed to notice it.  
"What was that?" Goten cried. "That was awfully high for a ki that I've never sensed before!"  
Pan took to the air, not even waiting for her uncle to catch up. "I don't know who it is, but I will find out! Come on, Uncle Goten!"  
Without a word, Goten took off after his neice, and they both went to find the owner of that ki.  
  
  
A/N Chavi: Hey! How'd you like it? Gomen, but I don't think this chapter's that good. But I promise, that was just because I had some slight writer's block! I swear that the next chappy will be both longer and better!!! Well have fun! Review!  
Jenna: Next time you'll find out who the owner of that ki is ^_^  
Chavi: Yeppers! ^_^ so review and remember that more reviews=more motivation=more updates!!! So review right away and try my other fics!!! Bye bye now! Ja ne! ^_^ 


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